Guernsey’s Policy & Resources Committee have agreed to continue the Payroll Co-Funding Scheme for an additional three months and have also announced the intention to launch a Visitor Attraction Support scheme.
The Payroll Co-Funding Scheme will now continue until the end of September 2021. The sectors still eligible for support under the scheme are:
- Event management and Event services
- Passenger transport and travel
- Pet Accommodation services
- Rental and leasing of cars
- Taxi Drivers
- Tourist Attractions
Visitor accommodation is supported separately under the Visitor Accommodation Support scheme.
The continuation of the Payroll Co-Funding Scheme until the end of September has been agreed in light of the uncertainty over the level of travel activity over the coming months. This extension takes into account that businesses which are still eligible for business support are unlikely to see their activity return to pre-COVID levels in the critical third quarter of 2021.
The new Visitor Attraction Support scheme will be designed to help cover overheads, excluding salaries, for establishments which are largely reliant on attracting visitors to their premises; typically where a fee is paid. Support will be based around providing coverage at up to 80% of total eligible overheads. As this excludes support for salaries, these businesses will continue to be eligible for the Payroll Co-Funding Scheme which has been extended to the end of September.
It is intended that the Visitor Attraction Support scheme will be launched next month which will cover the 12-month period to the end of March 2022 and will be backdated to 1st April 2021, which was the start of the 2021 season. The full details will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Deputy Mark Helyar, Treasury lead for the Policy & Resources Committee said “The Visitor Attraction Support scheme, when launched, will fill a gap identified in our current support to help those businesses who play an important role in our overall visitor offering. There is an acknowledged need for added support to help with the burden of overheads, seeing as income generated by these businesses since the start of the pandemic will have been minimal. Where necessary we are continuing to provide proportionate support, but as with any support scheme, we will keep this under review to make sure that support is only provided where it is needed.”
